Guess what my old Windows 8.1 laptop and a Nintendo 64 have in common?

Neither have a goddamn fan or a CMOS battery!!! I shit you not, I opened up my old windows 8.1 computer from like 2012 and it did not have a fan. Instead it had a large piece of metal connected to a CPU as a heatsink. It also never had a CMOS battery since the solder pads have never been used.

ASUS? I came across ASUS laptop without fan in the past

@devTea Nah; it's a Toshiba.

CMOS battery was obviously never installed because the copper still showing.

And I don't think the fan was ever installed because multiple components from the PCB are missing (that by itself isn't unusual). but seeing as how installing a fan underneath a flat heatsink wouldn't provide good airflow.

In conclusion I believe that for a few cents less Best Buy ordered laptop variants that did not have a battery or a fan.

Tldr: Always buy laptops from the manufacturer directly.

@JohnScott your tip depends on where you live. In the netherlands the shop you bought it from is obligated to give support to the products they are selling, as consumer you dont always want to deal with the manufacturer, especially if its an asian one where they dont speak english.

@Codex404 Well ... Shit. I guess not apparently. It seems I can't speak for everyone.

Buyer beware? Avoid retailers or maybe not?

I don't see the issue. Does the cpu throttle and does it forget time and date often?

@electrineer I don't have a clue I don't really use that laptop anymore.

@JohnScott No fan is better than having one if the cpu has so low power consumption it doesn't need one. And cmos batteries are only used for keeping time since years.